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A Self-perpetuating Annual Flower bed.

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  • A Self-perpetuating Annual Flower bed.

    I'd like some ideas for a self-perpetuating annual flower bed please. One that I can sow this year and never have to sow again - but I don't want perennials, just annuals.

    Ideally, the flowers will self seed easily but not enough to be a nuisance, be good for cutting, and attract butterflies & bees. Also they should be easy to grow from seed and need very little maintenance.

    So far............Calendula, Limnanthes, Borage.............

  • #2
    How about poppies
    The grass isn't always greener on the other side.
    A weed is just a flower in the wrong place.

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    • #3
      nasturtiums?
      Do bulbs count....they spread.

      I could send you honesty seed (the pink variety) although it's too late for this year.

      foxgloves and hollyhocks seed all over the place and wallflowers too.
      http://goneplotterin.blogspot.co.uk/

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      • #4
        Thanks for the offer muddled, but pink Honesty is something I have aplenty Foxgloves too. Strictly speaking, they're biennials - but I think I'll make an exception for them
        Nasturtiums - good thought

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        • #5
          Nigella and escholzia maybe?

          If bulbs can also be included, I'd suggest allium sphaerocephalon. The bees absolutely love them, and after the first year they self seed, so are always multiplying.
          Last edited by WPG; 18-04-2015, 06:22 AM.

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          • #6
            How about poached egg plant. Comes back every year.
            The grass isn't always greener on the other side.
            A weed is just a flower in the wrong place.

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            • #7
              Originally posted by veggiechicken View Post
              I'd like some ideas for a self-perpetuating annual flower bed please. One that I can sow this year and never have to sow again - but I don't want perennials, just annuals.

              Ideally, the flowers will self seed easily but not enough to be a nuisance, be good for cutting, and attract butterflies & bees. Also they should be easy to grow from seed and need very little maintenance.

              So far............Calendula, Limnanthes, Borage.............
              What a fabulous idea!
              Will set aside a bed for this but understand less about flowers than veggies. My imagination says that after first year they will organise themselves to come up at right time of year for them and already at right depth. A bit of weeding, a touch of spacing and the joy of watching them emerge.

              First look at 'flower mill' last night, alphabet idea intriguing.

              Would still be reading this forum and asking questions but have longed for a whole day at allotment all week and am just off.
              Last edited by kris1960; 18-04-2015, 06:41 AM.
              No matter:the allotment is lovely, the tadpoles have legs, my sea kale has germinated and I am glad to be home.

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              • #8
                Still here- just had another thought- have been bordering and sprinkling flowers in veggie beds- perhaps I cold have a vegetable border around this- some lovely frilly kale maybe....tbc
                No matter:the allotment is lovely, the tadpoles have legs, my sea kale has germinated and I am glad to be home.

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                • #9
                  How about Nigella, Cornflowers,Sweet Rocket and Cosmos.
                  Gardening requires a lot of water - most of it in the form of perspiration. Lou Erickson, critic and poet

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                  • #10
                    Nigella look beautiful planted in large patchs and their seedpods stand all winter and look good in the frost. Californian poppies also self seed freely.

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                    • #11
                      Centaurea (cornflower), echium, sunflowers, larkspur possibly, though I'm not sure if it self sows well, candytuft, flax probably will, and crepis (pink hawkbeard), myosotis (forget-me-nots), Shirley poppies, how about Virginian stock, or is that one you have to start indoors? Can't remember offhand.
                      Location - Leicestershire - Chisit-land
                      Endless wonder.

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                      • #12
                        Hi, cerinthe self seed for me

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                        • #13
                          Virginia Stock is as tough as old boots I planted some in containers in our courtyard two summers ago and it's just self seeded since there - even in cracks in the paving. This winter just gone was so mild that I even had the flower in bloom all the way through!

                          I've got some up on the allotment now as it's one of my favourite flowers....long with nasturtium, nigella, cosmos, poached egg plant (limnanthes), Californian poppy etc.....most of the flowers mentioned on here in fact! Last week I planted a few perennials into the spot I want as a permanent flower bed and then filled the rest with various hardy annuals so once they're up it'll give me a lovely cottagey garden effect

                          This is the area this morning planted up and just waiting for my wee beauties to start growing. The paving slabs are just there for ease of weeding and deadheading etc - they're less noticeable once the plants get growing!

                          If I'm not on the Grapevine I can usually be found here!....https://www.thecomfreypatch.co.uk/

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                          • #14
                            2018 self-seeders

                            Next year's seedlings are appearing in the garden. Take a look around yours and tell us what you've found.

                            Cerinthe, Calendula, Nigella, Forget me not.

                            Click image for larger version

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                            Wallflowers and Honesty and ? Polemonium

                            Click image for larger version

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                            • #15
                              Pot marigold, forget-me-not, musk mallow, wallflower, cerinthe (which I'm not really keen on, so it gets pulled out when I see it), feverfew, phacelia, foxgloves, and borage, which keeps coming up and I keep pulling it out, it makes and spreads more seeds than you think

                              edit - and poached eggs.
                              Last edited by mothhawk; 05-11-2018, 07:44 PM.
                              Location - Leicestershire - Chisit-land
                              Endless wonder.

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